Planning For Waste

May 21, 1990

Much of the hoopla over Earth Day has faded, but the serious work of protecting the environment is quietly going on in some quarters. One area that's receiving special attention is waste disposal as 11 jurisdictions on the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula move toward a regional system of collecting and disposing of their waste.

The Virginia Peninsulas Public Service Authority is the umbrella agency that was formed last year to tackle the problem. VPPSA is now working with an engineering report that outlines the best ways to deal with the tons of trash that 450,000 people generate in the 1,500-square-mile area. A workshop was held last week in Williamsburg, where about 100 representatives from local governments, businesses and organizations dissected the preliminary plans and offered suggestions on how to proceed.

The basic plan stresses recycling and landfills as the best way to meet the area's needs for the future. The waste-to-energy incinerator in Hampton would also play a key role. But the study lacks hard facts and figures on how much the plan will cost, who'll be in charge of what aspects, and where future landfills will be located. That kind of missing data can be frightening to citizens. Even so, what's needed most in these early stages of planning are a lot of open minds, ones that can deal with some tough realities:

* New landfill regulations make it prohibitively expensive for localities to go it alone. A landfill that cost $50,000 an acre to construct just a few years ago will cost $250,000 to $500,000 an acre to build in accordance with new regulations.

* There will be high capital costs to close existing landfills and a build recycling center.

* While a regional landfill may be more cost-effective, transporting waste to the facility will be a big expense.

* Some localities, such as Williamsburg and Poquoson, have no landfills and no room to build any. They will have to rely on other localities.

* There may have to be tradeoffs. A rural area that uses another locality's landfill may have to reciprocate with a new landfill 20 years from now. Or, a locality that sends its trash to Newport News may also be the one that provides a reservoir for drinking water during the next century.

There is adequate landfill space in the region, enough to last about 25 years, even longer if recycling and reduction are used. But eventually, a new regional landfill may have to be built. Transfer stations will have to be built in some localities, so that waste can be collected for transport to the main dumps. And a site will have to be found for a recycling facility.

What the regional waste authority is working with now is just a basic outline. There are still many blanks that must be filled in. The process will require citizen input - and acceptance - as the final details are worked out. There will have to be compromises. Rather than getting too hung up on present-day parochial concerns, the residents and political leaders in the various localities should have the courage to look to the future.

Everyone should realize that waste disposal problems are not going to go away, even if everyone recycles their hearts out. Protecting the planet from our wasteful habits will require lots of hard work and money. And it makes more sense for localities to work together on this common problem, rather than defending their own dumps.

All this attention to regional waste disposal is coming at a good time. The environment and recycling are on everyone's mind. People are willing to pitch in, make sacrifices and even change lifestyles. There is a real desire to reduce waste and dispose of what's left in the proper manner. This kind of positive approach will benefit the regional waste disposal concept as initial plans slowly evolve into policies and operating procedures.